A Tale of Two Miatas: Hraday93's MSM Build
 

.I always wanted a fast car. But for the longest time, I was reliant on the beautiful Daddy's Dollar.

The inevitable happened sometime back in 2014 as my Saturn died on me, and I was left with one option: ride a bike to work. I had recently taken on a job in the wireless industry and was taking home some moolah that was actually worth spending. After perusing Craigslist for some time, I found a peachy 1990 Miata with a 1.6 on Christmas Day. Within 2 hours of finding it, I picked it up for $2500 and was surprisingly happy with my choice. It had awfully mismatched tires, Toyota MR2 wheels, barely functional brakes, a laughably ricer exhaust setup and no stereo. But I was in love with this piece of junk. I knew it was entirely too much money to spend on one in this condition but I never regretted buying it. Six months go by, and I manage to spend a few dollars to spruce her up. I bought a Moroso overflow tank, replaced the shift boot (both the rubber and the leather decorative boot) Mishimoto radiator, the dual fan shroud, Mishimoto 140 degree thermostat, the FM Happy Meal clutch kit and I figured out how to wire up my Saturn's stereo into the car since I hadn't had any tunes for a while. I had a lot of fun in the car. I learned how to rev match, drift, hit apexes, and funnily enough... keep up with a 600hp Mazdaspeed 6 that belongs to my best friend/roommate (usually with the tail end of the Miata swinging wildly like a 18 wheeler caught in a crosswind).


After a huge rain storm, my ECU nearly fried itself and I was able to take it apart and clean off the corrosion and save it w/ Silica gel (after being left at this intersection)



About a month after the rain incident, June 2015, bad luck struck me again. Some military brat drove into oncoming traffic while he was texting and driving. As some of you have already seen in my Meet & Greet, this was the end of my little hunk of junk after she had lived a long 25 year adventure with god knows what in her past.





A guy near Ft. Hood posted an ad for a 2004 Mazdaspeed Miata that I absolutely fell in love with. We agreed on a fair price, and I took her home with a gigantic grin on my face. Everything about the car was perfect. The Konig wheels were beautiful, he installed a FM exhaust (stock downpipe), Kenwood Stereo, DDM HIDs, Kobalt rear strut, Koyorad radiator/fan shroud, and deleted quite a bit of unnecessary vacuum related things and the EGR. It had an aftermarket intake (unknown brand)




I beat on the car quite a bit, and drove it between San Antonio and DFW regularly. Eventually it developed an exhaust leak because of the cheap eBay turbo manifold.




A bunch of stock parts came with the car and one of them happened to be the stock manifold (among other things like the FM cam gear tool, a tournneau cover for the ragtop, etc.). I drove the car with an exhaust leak for a while, because I was eventually going to replace the head gasket with a 99-00 headgasket per the advice of Trackdog Racing to "properly accommodate" the M-Tuned Coolant Reroute, which meant I could just have my buddy weld up the eBay manifold while the motor was taken apart. Awful idea, exhaust leak continued because the manifold eventually warped. I diverted to the stock manifold, so we got that installed and I noticed it made more boost.





I couldn't believe that all this time, the car was actually making little wastegate and BOV noises. This encouraged me to beat on the car endlessly, and seeing what the car could handle because I had caught the turbo bug and was soon addicted.





Whether by my own negligence, or just happenstance, the oil return line from the turbo cracked, and I spewed out about half of the engine's oil on a entrance ramp pull.





This bit of hooning damaged a rod bearing (unbeknownst to me at the time, but it was definitely a guess of mine that I had damaged something internal). I had the cracked line replaced, and completely went against my better judgement by not having my machinist friend tear my block down to inspect the motor for any severe damage after the mechanic replaced the line for me. I drove the car for about 1000 miles with this rattling sound that I had convinced myself was a loose heatshield somewhere. Come mid November, I'm doing about 70-80mph down I-35 when I noticed a subtle bucking from the car, single pulse every 2 or 3 minutes. I look down at my gauges and the car is absolutely beyond all saving at this point so I pull to the side of the freeway and throw my hands up in the air.





The flat bed comes to pick her up, while my friends and I discuss the possibility of just selling the car and cutting my losses. On the ride home, my buddies talk me off the ledge and convince me to just build the motor.





So here we are. My machinist started working on a spare block that I had before the MSM motor came out of the car

My machinist had my spare 1.8 block that I had bought in the hopes of doing a cute little turbo build for my 1990. I picked up the long block about 2 weeks after I bought the first car, and had all but forgotten about it. I disassembled the entire motor myself and left it abandoned for 30+ weeks without any plans to move forward. So yes, I was "that guy" who does a half assed build and never follows through.





But now, without a running car, I figured I would bring out my inner psycho and go as crazy with my car as my pockets would allow. Thus far we've tried to come a long way with our own knowledge, and admittedly up until my Meet & Greet, I hadn't bothered to read up anything about the trial and error of other people hoping to get more than 100 hp out of their cars.

I went into the situation knowing this much: My turbo had to go, I needed Megasquirt, and my transmission was a ticking time bomb. Also, I knew that I had made a questionable decision changing the head gasket to a 99-00 part

With all of that being said, I think I went after a solid bit of goodies for the build in my hopes of achieving a 500whp 1.8.

So far
9.5:1 Supertech pistons (these are stock compression pistons, I know a lot of you guys question this setup for turbo Miatas, but that's what these MSMs came with)
Supertech Valves, Valve springs (heavy doubles)
Eagle rods
1.8 BP block from an unknown year Miata,
MSM non-VVT head and reverted back to stock MSM headgasket
Billet gear water pump
Billet gear oil pump
GTX3076R, Tial hotside
Tial wastegate
RX7 Turbo II 5-speed transmission
Megasquirt PNP-Pro




Yet to buy, but WILL (because nobody likes a dude with a wishlist):
ATI Superdamper
Ford 8.8 rear end whenever I find a wrecked Cobra or Thunderbird.
Custom exhaust manifold
Aftermarket Fueling system (injectors, flex fuel sensor, etc.)

All in all, I'm hoping to have a really badass Miata. I'm beyond excited and I'm not really out to prove anything. Personally I feel like I don't know anything worth mentioning about building motors. :noob::noob::noob: I just have a fetish for speed and wanted to tell my story along the way. With the help of some awesome friends who share my passion for cars.

:party::party::party::party::party::party::party:

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455135745

Matt at Kotzur Racing Engines sent me this earlier. Looks as if the short block will be done today and the head will soon be placed back on the block sometime later this week.

I'm really excited to see the port work when it's done.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455138664

Kotzur Racing Engines sent me this to tell me my short block was nearly done. About 20 minutes later, Matt calls me and says that his dad noticed something up with the crankshaft.
Apparently both of the cranks I had bought from a guy in DFW had spun a rod bearing, and had been welded on then reground to hide the damage. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed off because the guy runs a shop, and should hold himself to higher integrity.

I'm holding off on mentioning names until I'm positive that wrongdoing is at play. But rest assured if that's the case, I will give all the details possible regarding the person involved and the shop they currently work at

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455746238


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455746238


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455746238


I finally got the shortblock situation sorted out, my machinist also started on the head porting and valve train. I had to eat it bad on a crankshaft local to me, as BOTH of the crankshafts I bought were unacceptable as core trades. I'm still in the middle of a resolution with the seller of the cranks I mentioned in previous posts so he will remain unnamed until I can honestly know if shady business practices were the cause rather than miscommunication.

We also deleted the intake flaps for the VCTS and are hoping the change doesn't hurt low end torque to the point I end up going to find another MSM intake.

Then my piping for the exhaust manifold came in this morning...I'm extremely excited to see how this turns out

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455746238

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Stopped by the shop, they've got the shortblock bagged up ready for the head to go on later this week after Matt finishes the with the valvetrain. Also, we finally managed to get the hotside of the Mazdaspeed 6 off my turbo so my TiAL housing could be put on.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455818468


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1455818468

Why such a large trubo if you don't mind me asking :likecat:

Have any target psi you wanna hit?

Because it's what we had available and I got a sweet deal on it from the guy building my motor. Couldn't turn it down. As for boost targets I'm not sure. I'm learning as I go.

We have similar setups :bigtu:

I have a gt2860 now but I 'wish' I had a 2560 or GTX2860. I <3 spool

My guesstimate on psi once I get things going is going to be 12-14psi with my 9.5CR pistons, maybe higher if I do E85. But that's a ways away from now.

I read up on yours back when I had my Meet and Greet thread going up, badass little car!

Figured I had the world at my fingertips with this build so I went all out. Plus I'm a bit psychotic behind the wheel so the thought of 500hp made me more tingly than nervous.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456341961

Machinist sent me this photo when I asked for build progress...

Quote from Matt at Kotzur Racing:

"Another day getting fucked by a motor, God damn main studs hit the windage tray. Fucking Miatas"

This guy makes me laugh to no end, I swear.

She's nearly assembled!!!

Should be up and running by Friday, but I'm undecided on whether or not I'm going to break the motor in with the MSPNP or the stock ECU.

Here's the thing, my engine builder's advice was to run with no boost...but since I have to drive at varying RPMs to seat the rings and everything the way he wants them to, that means that pretty little custom waste gate has to basically stay open. Will the stock Mazdaspeed ECU freak out with the lack of boost at high RPM?

Or should I save my self the trouble and get the megasquirt on its base break-in map to get things going? I went gung-ho with the build before I realized the ECU needs gradual changes in parts, luckily I still have the stock fueling system in place for now. I don't expect big power until later in the year.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456827194


https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456827194



https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1456827194

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457068058

Back on the bench, every time Matt shows me the head I always find little things I want to shave down. He's starting to become amused at how open we're making the ports.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457068386

View from the exhaust port, pre polish.

I'm beyond satisfied. Quick shot of the intake side after Matt smoothed everything out. This gas mask of a BP head should flow its best, now.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457073611

Fuck yea. Just gotta get the valve cover powdercoated and she's going in the car to be broken in.

Still undecided on what harmonic damper I should use. Any input on your varying experiences with ATI vs the Superdamper would be greatly appreciated. Thanks guys.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1457577899

Both are great, I hear the supermiata damper is tuned for a higher rpm range and is lighter vs the ATI.

I'll probably go with ATI when I have more funds :burncash:

What color are you doing the valvecover?

I knew the supermiata one was lighter, wasn't aware of the RPM bit. As for the valve cover, I'm not sure. My car is red and black from head to toe, even the interior is trimmed red so I might as well retouch the wrinkle red, or I might color match it to the paint.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490Some time in late March, a shot of the motor all finished up by Kotzur Racing.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490This was when we got it home, and into the garage before attaching the transmission back to the block.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490Got the transmission mounted, and it was at this point that I started to feel the reality of getting my car back!

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490Before my LS Juan Swap.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490After my LS Juan Swap.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490Things got a little too crazy that night, oh well.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462680490SHE'S IN!

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https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Apr. 27, the morning after my custom manifold and downpipe were done being welded up. Car is fresh off the trailer and I stood still long enough to quit dancing around like a moron.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Glamour shot of that morning before I got the turbo in.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Fucking AMAZING work. Not the prettiest, but the guy did everything equal length, and the fitment was absolutely perfect.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157yummage

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157I'm a daddy to a new baby turbo named Garrett

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157MMMPH

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157peakaboo.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Front shot.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Just wiggling around for fitment at this point.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157After getting the brace installed again.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Glamour shots for Instagram lol

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157More Instagram ricerboi shenanigans

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157With strut tower brace

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1462681157Without strut tower brace.

Not sure why this site keeps making me double post. Sorry for the weird edits. Oh well. Enjoy the weld porn, guys!

that is a very interesting looking mani
'grats on almost being done
loving all the pics/progress

It's aaaaall about to come together. Must feel nice. Loving the steady flow of pics/information

Thanks guys! I didn't mean to fall off the map so long, but yes it feels amazing. I miss this car so much and have been daily driving a 2001 Passat that Kotzur Racing let me use to get back and forth to work. I should have the car up and running soon, and I'll be posting videos once I'm positive it's safe to turn the key on and let it idle.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463085820

Quick mock up of my oil feed line on block #2 (yes there will be two identically built engines). And I'll run that line a lot cleaner in the actual engine bay. Matt at Kotzur Racing is harvesting pieces of the stock drain line to make a new one for this setup. Here's to hoping the car will be running next week!

I can't say I like that manifold design :dunno:

But still interested to see how this is going to turn out. :likecat:

That manifold will definitely need some sort of brace underneath it to help with all that weight. Otherwise very interesting design, interested in seeing how it works.

A lot of the design element came of the request to make everything fit within the stock specs of the hood and strut tower brace. I wondered if the thing would sag, I suppose putting a brace onto it should definitely be something I look into after seeing how that could become a problem later down the road.

I don't think the manifold will sag, I think it will crack due to vibrations and weight. It will probably take a while depending on how thick the weld el's are, but it will probably happen.

1 1/4 steel, and the welds penetrate all the way through. No ghetto bends, they were all pre-made manifold elbows cut to fit. It's actually going to be coated and wrapped as well. Hopefully cracks won't become an issue like that eBay garbage that came on the car.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463169651
FINALLY got my oil cooler. These were on a 5 week backorder from Mazda, and somehow the Mazdaspeed specific one is $200 cheaper than the NB one. Oh well no complaints from me.


Also... We got a little somethin-somethin for that 280z that plays peekaboo in this build thread from time to time
https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463169651

Price of oil msm cooler?

I paid $200 bucks. Gave a little extra to my builder for the trouble of picking it up for me. Mazda charges around $190 something and over $400 for the normal NB cooler. Not sure why as the MSM one is bigger and presumably has more surface area internally for cooling. Who knows, could be that they just simplified the design.

FWIW the threads are the exact same for install...not sure what the actual differences are.

Need some advice guys. My motor will be ready to fire up next week and I'm torn between breaking everything in on the stock MSM ecu or using my MSPNPPro.

I know I did a total noob thing and went big turbo before I ever fired up the MS to train it to know my car but the circumstances of the engine failure sent me another direction.

Here's the scenario:
I'm on stock injectors, stock throttle body, completely open wastegate in hopes of no boost being made until the motor is set in. I'm not running a MAF sensor anymore since a guy bought my BEGi cold air intake off the car to make room for the turbo.

What compications will arise over the next 1000 miles that I can get in front of?

Once the motor is broken in, the new fuel system will be put into the car and i'll have a different fuel pump, injectors, etc to actually tune and make real power.

Due to no MAF you'll have to use the ms base map.

Flyin miata site has a break in procedure, I had good results when using amsoil 0w30 break in oil.

Thanks. I figured that was a 99% percent chance the lack of MAF would "decide" for me

Also is it normal to have a registration key for the software or did any of you have to pay for the TunerStudio and LogViewer?

Got the oil cooler on, finally. I lost the threaded shaft that was on my MSM block but luckily the block that is in the car had one too. Kotzur Racing had the whole original tear down from almost two years ago when I wanted to put this block in my NA. Looks like it won't be running this week as I planned. But Matt is almost done making a new drain line out of the OEM parts.https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463521902

Talk about a tight fit....So close to being done!

Also, Matt at Kotzur Racing is going to have to touch up my manifold. He found some suspect beads in the time I left the setup with him to mock up the oil supply. No biggie. Probably should've had him build the manifold from the get-go.https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463701427

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463701427

Paid subscription for TS and MLV.
Don't be so sure that an open waste gate will prevent boost. You still may have to watch that you don't over-run the injectors, assuming stock FPR.
Do you have your intercooler in and charge pipes? I don't see any pictures.
Best of luck.

Can you elaborate on the acronyms? Sadly I've been programmed by mazdaspeedforums and have no clue what any of that means. *newb* I'm sure the turbo will spool some, but my break-in procedure is simply varying the RPMs. I won't be banging through gears for at least 1000 miles per the doctor's orders.



Intercooler is in. Had to set up a plan to have new piping made as my original setup fit with the BEGi cold air intake. As you can see its no longer a part of the build.

*edit* I assume you mean fuel pressure regulator? Yes stock for break-in period

I did, and suggest that you do also, pay for TunerStudio (TS) and LogViewer (MLV).

I planned on using it. But I was wondering if anybody received it with their ECU.

Got my drain line finally. I really dig the function over form visage all my custom fabbed parts are taking on. Stark contrast to the shiny 3 stage paintjob and overly cheesy Mazdaspeed branding in the interior.

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463785869

Decent clearance on the mock up. Should be a cakewalk next week getting everything put BACK into the real car, now that I've practiced with the fitment of the manifold and turbo already. https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463788337

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463788337

https://www.miataturbo.net/attachmen...ine=1463788337

Here's my pouty cry baby moment for the day. I was sitting in the car messing with stereo wiring and remembered I had a full tank of gas when the motor blew. Didn't even make it far enough to move the damn needle LMAO.https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.mia...d60cee47f5.jpg



Also...does anybody have a Throttle Inlet tube and IAT sensor combo lying around? OEM or the BEGi one w/ GM IAT will suffice. I mistakenly shipped mine off in a pile of parts for the cold air intake because the powdercoating was the same color and didn't even think about it until last nightwhile trying to put the intake back on. The guy I sold it to hasn't gotten back to me.

So far, we've got the bad gas removed from the tank, all of the vacuum hoses are run (except for a few pesky bastards that connect to the throttle body inlet tube, I assume). I have a few missing pieces to track down, namely the throttle body inlet tube. I'm positive I accidentally shipped it off with the cold air intake kit I sold a while back. It's the same powdercoat BEGi uses on all their stuff so I think I overlooked it. Coolant hoses are run, and I'm working on figuring out how to move my thermostat back toward the head. I just got my Tunerstudio and MLV registration so I'm still figuring out what is next to get this baby to start up. I've had a terrible time over the past few months finding things on the forum. I guess my noob status still stands :rofl:

I got the base map for the car loaded on. Changed it to speed density settings already since I have no MAF anymore. Any pointers as to what else I should be looking for in the software before I attempt to turn the engine over and let it idle?

Did you set the Req_fuel correctly?

Post your tune. Log of trying to start, and a composite log. Then we can actually see whats wrong.

This is the log while cranking. It's on stock MSM '04 tune with speed density change instead of MAF

Got some attempted startup logs. Any advice? Car is still trying to crank up but just keeps turning over.

Sigh...did a compression test. All cylinders are at 60 something. Thats at least ONE of my issues getting it fired up. Should've known with a completely fresh rebuild. :facepalm:

Oh well, gonna try some tricks in the morning to raise it and get these rings to seal hopefully.

are you doing test with throttle open?

So far, no

then you're doing it wrong.
though that's still pretty low, even with closed throttle

Would it really make a difference with the motor not firing up anyways? What's up with the logs?

Are you getting spark and fuel while cranking? Pull a plug and see if it's wet. If it isn't. No fuel. Ground the plug and see if it sparks while cranking. If it doesn't, no spark.

Okay I'll clear up that all of the basics are covered and the car is legitimately trying to start up but won't keep running. Spark, fuel, air are good. Aside from compression (which is a major problem but that has a straight forward way to address it) whats up with the logs? Anything out of the ordinary?